Champions League 2026: How English clubs got smart to dominate this season’s league phase

It has been quite the season in the Champions League for Premier League clubs.

All six teams are still in business in European football’s elite club competition.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City are guaranteed to be in the last 16 of the Champions League.

And they could be joined by Newcastle, if they navigate a two-legged play-off against Monaco or Qarabag.

England is the only country to have every team – nine of them – through to the knockout rounds across the three European competitions.

How is this success being viewed across Europe? Does it denigrate the new format? And why are Premier League clubs proving so powerful?

Spain, which like England gained one of the two European Performance Spots for this season, has not fared well so far.

Only Barcelona are sure of the being in the last 16, with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the playoff round. Athletic Club and Villarreal have been eliminated.

Whereas Spanish clubs used to dominate in Europe – Real Madrid won the competition twice in the past four seasons – this time they lost all but one of 10 meetings against Premier League teams in the group stage. La Liga clubs failed to score in seven matches and were beaten by an aggregate score of 21-5.

BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague describes it as «a near-perfect storm» which has been driven by «collective wealth, elite decision-making off the pitch, plus a league environment that forces constant tactical evolution».

Six Premier League sides sit inside the top 10 of the Deloitte Football Money League, while 50% of the top 30 come from the English top flight.

Balague added: «The Premier League has the biggest budgets, but also professional structures – recruitment departments, data analysis, coaching teams and sporting directors – all working at a level that allows clubs to choose better profiles of players and managers.

«There is an advantage even before a ball is kicked.»

Balague believes only Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich can match English clubs in all the four areas of «organised attack, structured defence, attacking transition and defensive transition».

English clubs are now fully attuned to the European style, Balague says.

«Rather than imposing something radically different, they are adapting to what Europe now requires,» he said.

«Defensive composure, winning the duels, squeezing space and time, control of transitions and clarity in decisive moments have become more important than dominating by possession. All prepared in training by top managers and coaches.»

Balague pointed out that success in the league phase does not mean anything. The competition only really begins in the knockout rounds «where English domination has been far less pronounced».

But Balague added: «In any case it feels almost impossible to stop forever the domination of a league that brings every year double or more the income of other competitions.»

Of the seven meetings between German and English clubs in the league phase the Bundesliga clubs only picked up two victories.

But Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund are all through to the knockout stages, although only Bayern go straight into the last 16.

German football expert Raphael Honigstein says few people are placing too much focus on the English success so far.

«The Premier League’s dominance is just denoted as a matter of fact,» Honigstein said.

«Kicker today wrote that the top eight reflect the hegemony [dominance] of the Premier League, or reinforces it. So it’s just seen as a given.»

In the past week both Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt lost to Spurs, who are languishing in 14th in the Premier League.

It is not just about the money but how it is being used too, though.

«The days of stupid English money are gone,» Honigstein added. «Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote that the Premier League had learned to actually use its riches more effectively, which explains their improved performances relative to recent years.»

Honigstein also said Bodo/Glimt and Qarabag having enjoyed success they could not have achieved in the old group-stage format.

He added: «The fact that Inter and Paris St-Germain, last year’s finalists, both didn’t qualify for the top eight suggests that there is a healthy sense of competition and a bit of randomness.

«I haven’t seen anyone make the link that the Premier League dominance somehow invalidates or diminishes the current format.

«It’s a bit of an English obsession to think that all of Europe is constantly thinking about England. People are not.»

Napoli know the dominance of the Premier League only too well after Wednesday night.

Antonio Conte’s side suffered a 3-2 home defeat by Chelsea which ended their Champions League campaign.

Atalanta, Inter Milan and Juventus are still active but failed to make the top eight.

Davide Chinellato, the UK correspondent for La Gazzetta dello Sport, says this season has only underlined opinions about the Premier League.

«Italian teams can win individual games [Atalanta beat Chelsea 2-1] but over the course of a season everyone knows Premier League sides are simply stronger,» he said.

«They have more money, better players and more stars.

«When a fringe Premier League player like Scott McTominay can move to Serie A and dominate, or when Serie A clubs consistently target players on the margins in England, the gap becomes clear.»

Chinellato added that the view in Italy is that the Premier League «increasingly resembles the Super League it claimed to oppose».

He said: «It risks starting to look like unfair competition – even if that dominance has not yet fully translated into Champions League titles.

«My sense is that it will only become a real problem once Premier League teams begin winning consistently.»

While other countries have embraced the new format, Chinellato says reaction has been «mixed» and Italians have found it «difficult to grasp».

France may have the holders of the competition, Paris St-Germain, but its sides have not had a great season.

Nice failed to make the league phase, and Marseille are out now too. Monaco and PSG only made the knockout play-offs.

Matt Spiro, a France-based writer and host of ‘The French Football Show’ on YouTube, says there has been «little discussion» of the Premier League’s performance.

PSG’s failure to make the top eight is seen as a «clear setback» for the country’s «only realistic title contender». They did manage to win the competition via the play-offs last season, however.

«French clubs are preoccupied with the domestic financial crisis,» Spiro said. «Many even rely on Premier League spending to balance their books, counting on big transfer fees for Ligue 1 talent.

«In today’s L’Equipe, there is one reference to English dominance, but that carries little sense of alarm.»

The theme again was the new format «has created more opportunities».

Sprio added: «Last season, with Brest, Lille and Monaco all impressing in the league phase and PSG going on to win the tournament, the revamped competition appeared to generate renewed interest in France.

«For now, there is no real trepidation about English performances.

«Ligue 1 sides have held their own against Premier League opposition [with two wins, two draws, one defeat]. However, if English clubs carry this dominance into the latter stages, perceptions will surely shift.»

The BBC World Service’s Sport Today show debated the topic on Thursday.

Filippo Ricci, the La Liga correspondent for Gazzetta dello Sport, said the best young stars now all go to England.

Ricci told the story of Carlos Vicente, who was considered to be Alaves’ best player. Such is the financial strength of English football that on Wednesday he joined Championship club Birmingham.

French football expert Julien Laurens believes the English dominance paints a picture of a low-quality season in which «every league is suffering because of the calendar and the fixtures».

Constantin Eckner, a German football expert, backs the assertion that the competition is only just getting going.

«We don’t know how Tottenham or maybe Liverpool will do in the knockout stage,» Eckner said. «There’s still time and maybe the English dominance won’t be that overbearing.»

And he stated only Bayern can compete as the «second-best team in Europe behind Arsenal» – a statement reflected by the final league phase table.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.